Thursday, March 4, 1999

As Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday wrapped up an international conference of Latin American justice ministers in Lima, Peru, Amy Goodman was able to conduct the first-ever media interview with Lori Berenson. Berenson is a 29-year old American serving a life sentence in Peru after she was tried and sentenced by a secret military court for treason. Amy was able to enter the prison together with a U.S. human rights delegation. She filed this report last night from Lima.

As hundreds in Lagos, Nigeria, continue to protest this weekend’s election of former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo, we are going to take a look today at how Nigeria’s political changes may affect the oil-producing region of Nigeria–the Niger Delta. Obasanjo pledged during his presidential campaign that he would implement a master plan to develop the Delta Region, which despite holding the nation’s oil wealth is one of the most impoverished and neglected regions of Nigeria.

The British government recently released a report that found that London’s police force is rife with "pernicious and institutionalized racism." The report was a response to the 1993 killing of Stephen Lawrence, a Black man who was stabbed to death by a gang of racist white youths in the Eltham section of Southeast London. A botched police investigation of the murder and a failure to bring Lawrence’s killers to justice has resulted in a massive public outcry throughout the U.K.

Every month Democracy Now airs All Things Censored, commentaries written by death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal produced by the Prison Radio Project. Recordings of Abu-Jamal’s voice have been banned by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. So each month we bring to you notable people reading his new essays.

This past week, there were news conferences around the country to mobilize for a massive demonstration calling for a new trial for the African American journalist that will take place in Philadelphia on April 24. This past week, Amy Goodman had an opportunity to interview Geronimo Pratt–now known as Janome Ji Jaga–at a New York town meeting called "Millions for Mumia." The event drew over one thousand people, including actor Ossie Davis, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and others. The police held a vigil in protest across the street from the event.

Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan — What price would you pay not to kill another human being? At what point would you commit the offenses allegedly perpetrated by Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was charged Wednesday with desertion and “misbehavior before an enemy?”